The girl who will be queen

So now for the job description: You get to wear great clothes, have your photograph in the paper every day, fly all over the world, cut ribbons, head charities and wave to the crowds. As you can see, it’s a very tough job and not many people will qualify. The upside is that you get to live in palaces, and even though he is now rapidly going bald, you get to marry the future King of England.

For many, Kate Middleton may have landed the best job in the world. But is it really? And do the British public still blindly adore their royals — and do they deserve the kind of respect they have been getting? There has been a worrying debate over this recently which is threatening to cast a shadow over the royal wedding.
Going by this week’s headlines, it may be obvious to all that the British love affair with the royals is not going well, yet again. This is the dangerous side of living in a fishbowl, where every action is often scrutinised to a minute degree. The press hysteria over the royals comes at a heavy price — as we saw in the tragic death of Princess Diana — and this is something that shows no signs of abating. The press feels emboldened by the growing public feeling that the royals cannot just live off the fat of the land. They have to earn their keep and, therefore, getting married to the Prince is also a “job” that you have to perform, and perform well.
Queen Elizabeth, in a sense, has been a true representative of the people — and merely did what all normal people in this country do: bring up a dysfunctional family. But whilst others can get away with their children talking to plants or having public extra-marital affairs, her children cannot. And now they have to watch out for the company they keep as well.
Thus, this week, Prince Andrew or the Duke of York, known to be Queen Elizabeth’s “favourite” son, has been just summoned for a chat with his mother over a recent spate of embarrassing headlines, and his role as the British trade envoy appears to be in jeopardy, as well. Fondly known as “Randy Andy” and “Airmiles Andy” in the tabloid press, the unfortunate Prince has often made news for the wrong reasons.
Now he has been apparently associating with dubious people, including a known US pedophile, the billionaire, Jeffrey Epstein. It did not help that this pedophile then helped pay off part of the debts of Sarah Ferguson, the Duke’s estranged wife.
Almost coincidentally, now a whole host of supposed gaffes by the Prince in his role as trade envoy are also being rolled out — some diplomats have accused him of arrogance and extravagance whilst trying to perform his unpaid job of promoting British business abroad. Testimonials trotted out by the government endorsing his performance by British business heads have turned out to be more than four years old and no one is taking them very seriously. Everyone is wondering if it is only a matter of time before “Airmiles Andy” is grounded and forced to step down from his formal and honorary position.
This could not come at a worse time for the royals as they are trying to make the most of Kate’s “commoner” past. In a slick public relations exercise, her family has released childhood photographs of her as a pigtailed moppet. There have been outings with her and Prince William where she was appreciated for being deft with the crowds, well-dressed and charming. Of course, so far Kate (soon to be known as Catherine) has studiously avoided the press and, perhaps learning from Princess Diana’s experiences, has been low-key and loyal. She has been careful to avoid taking on any commercial job apart from the help she gives occasionally to her parents’ business.
In fact, this girl who would be queen has throughout kept out of the news and has ostensibly done nothing much over the years since she graduated from St. Andrews in 2006 except stick to her man. This does not make her a great role model, but it may have been a wise move, and one that has, in the long run, paid off. She would know naturally that if she could pull it off, there would be plenty for her to do later. From years of being “Waitey Katey”, she is now just a few weeks away from her wedding.
In many ways, Kate is a throwback to a past generation and appears to have no ambition other than being an extension of her husband. She is not representative of the women of UK who work hard, and now of course her life will be transformed completely and she will not have to lift a spoon in her life, ever again.
But the fact that she will live in a glass house may yet have its affect her. The media honeymoon is on right now: they are all discussing her lovely hair, her wedding gown and her charming smile.
Given the family’s experience with the press so far, Kate may have already been warned of the dangers and has avoided them successfully for the last decade. While the Queen grew up at a time when the press was practically subservient, her children unfortunately bore the brunt of a very changed media environment, when the royals, like everything else, became fair game for headline-grabbing news. No one in the family probably behaved any differently from their ancestors, but now they were very likely to be caught red handed, because the walls between them and a very fierce media are being dismantled.
Thus far, the savvy Kate Middleton has managed to avoid media scrutiny — but now, as she comes under the microscope, one begins to wonder how long the sheen will last.

The writer can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com